statism

America’s Dictator

"After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Bush and a bipartisan Congress rushed into law the unconstitutional PATRIOT Act, which now serves as the 'legal' basis of the NSA spying on the phone calls, emails and Internet activity of every American and millions more in other countries. In 2009, Obama signed into law the Democrat-backed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) that seeks to impose IRS control and review over every American’s offshore financial activity, destroying all financial privacy, based on a false assumption of tax evasion. Your salvation rests with you – and with the actions you determine to take right now." Continue reading →

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Facial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance

"The federal government is making progress on developing a surveillance system that would pair computers with video cameras to scan crowds and automatically identify people by their faces, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with researchers working on the project. The Department of Homeland Security tested a crowd-scanning project called the Biometric Optical Surveillance System — or BOSS — last fall after two years of government-financed development. Although the system is not ready for use, researchers say they are making significant advances." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFacial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance

Canada plans to use hexacopter drones in war against geese

"Canada’s capital has ordered drone strikes to rid a popular Ottawa beach of pesky geese that dirty the waters with fecal matter, demonstrating on Wednesday how it works. The hexacopter — a 26-inch-wide remote-controlled hobby aircraft that was adapted by its owner for pest control — takes off every morning at dawn and chases away the waterfowl sullying the Ottawa River near Petrie Island park on the city’s east side. 'It’s been really effective,' city councillor Bob Monette told AFP. The city even obtained a special 'scare permit' from wildlife authorities to bother the protected birds. The $30,000-a-year program is to continue through to the end of October." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCanada plans to use hexacopter drones in war against geese

California school district preps for lockdowns with 1,800 plastic classroom toilets

"A California school district said this week that they had so many lockdowns last year that it seemed like the perfect time to spend $36,000 on portable plastic toilets for the classrooms. The so-called lockdown kits sold by SOS Survival Products include a 5-gallon bucket with a toilet seat lid, toilet paper, wet wipes, waste bags, duct tape, latex gloves, a tarp and a bag of kitty litter. 'This year, as a district, we bought it district wide in order to get the most cost-effective rate on our cost,' Teves explained. 'We were able to buy these for about $20 each. We bought a total of 1,800, so it was a cost of about $36,000.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia school district preps for lockdowns with 1,800 plastic classroom toilets

ACLU: Secret program blacklists immigrants who are ‘perceived to be Muslim’

"The previously unknown programme, which began in 2008 under George W Bush to identify those with links to terrorism, has continued under President Obama to blacklist law-abiding applicants and profile Muslims as 'national security concerns'. Migrants who have travelled through or lived in areas of known terrorist activity, wired money back to their families, attended a mosque of interest to the FBI or even given a voluntary interview to the agency, can be labelled 'national security concerns', the report, published on Wednesday, says. The report suggests the FBI has used the Carrp rules to pressurise immigrants into becoming informants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingACLU: Secret program blacklists immigrants who are ‘perceived to be Muslim’

Secret Court Opinion Finding NSA Surveillance Unconstitutional Released

"In response to EFF's FOIA lawsuit, the government has released the 2011 FISA court opinion ruling some NSA surveillance unconstitutional. For over a year, EFF has been fighting the government in federal court to force the public release of an 86-page opinion of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). Issued in October 2011, the secret court's opinion found that surveillance conducted by the NSA under the FISA Amendments Act was unconstitutional and violated 'the spirit of' federal law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecret Court Opinion Finding NSA Surveillance Unconstitutional Released

Your identity will become “property of the U.S. government” under new rules

"Requirements in Senate Bill 744 for mandatory worker IDs and electronic verification remove the right of citizens to take employment and 'give' it back as a privilege only when proper proof is presented and the government agrees. Any citizen wanting to take a job would face the regulation that his or her digitized high-resolution passport or driver's license photo be collected and stored centrally in a Homeland Security database. The pictures in the national database would then need to be matched against the job applicant's government-issued 'enhanced' ID card, using a Homeland Security-mandated facial-recognition 'photo tool.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYour identity will become “property of the U.S. government” under new rules

Tulsa Area Man Beaten, Left For Dead By OKC Police Officers

"The couple said the beating stemmed from an argument the two were having over lunch meat. As they were arguing, a group of three men stopped to intervene. Two of them were off-duty Oklahoma City police officers. Lewis said one of the men confronted him, 'aggressively started pushing me around, telling me he was a cop and that I was going to do what he said.' Lewis said the men charged him as he asked for names and badge numbers. 'They jumped on me,' Lewis said. 'Began sitting on top of me, punching me directly in the face, while another one in their party was saying, 'hold him under, just hold him under.' And they repeatedly did this.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTulsa Area Man Beaten, Left For Dead By OKC Police Officers

Phoenix Police “Help” a Man to Death

"There are circumstances in which people might be tempted to seek the help of police officers. If they do so, they should understand that police are neither trained to help, nor are they expected to. They are trained, equipped, and prepared to employ aggressive violence against anybody who doesn’t submit to them immediately and without reservation — including the people whom they are supposedly there to 'help.' This was memorably illustrated by the murder of Michael Ruiz, an emotionally disturbed father of two from Phoenix, Arizona, by the police who had arrived on the scene to 'help' him." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPhoenix Police “Help” a Man to Death

Poll Finds Few Think We’re Winning War on Drugs

"Four decades after President Richard Nixon ushered in the modern war on drugs, fewer than one out of 20 Americans think it is being won, according to a new poll. A Rasmussen Reports poll released on Sunday found that only 4% of respondents believe that the US is 'winning' the war on drugs. Some 82% said it is 'losing.' 'Americans continue to overwhelmingly believe that the so-called war on drugs is failing, but they are more divided on how much the United States should be spending on it,' Rasmussen concluded. The Rasmussen poll also revealed a public deeply divided over what to do about it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPoll Finds Few Think We’re Winning War on Drugs